The present invention relates generally to a system to enable software-based options, and more particularly, to a system and method to automatically respond to a request for activation of software options resident on remote devices within a particular site. The invention includes automatically identifying the devices, verifying the status of each remote device and, if a remote device is in condition for activation, automatically activating the desired option.
Medical diagnostic devices and supporting systems, such as medical imaging systems, have become increasingly complex in recent years. Examples of such systems include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed tomography (CT) systems, ultrasound and x-ray systems, and positron emission tomography (PET) systems. These systems include many different software-based options, some of which are not used depending on customer needs and costs. To add to the complexity of each particular imaging system, many facilities today incorporate a variety of such devices all of which may not be configured identically. In larger facilities, the systems may be networked to permit common management and control. Further, such systems may be networked with a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) for storing digitized image data for subsequent retrieval and reconstruction. Additionally, teleradiology systems that involve transmitting digitized image data to remote locations for review and diagnosis by specialized physicians and/or radiologists may be used as well.
Because these medical diagnostic systems are used by different facilities with differing needs, not all of these systems operate identically. That is, although identical software may be installed at the factory, certain options are not desired or licensed by a customer or user, and therefore are not enabled when delivered. If a customer later wants to add these options to their devices, a license would need to be executed and service personnel with appropriate training would have to physically travel to the location where the devices are present to enable the software in order for the customer to gain access to a particular option.
Improvements in computer networks have greatly facilitated the task of offering assistance to remote facilities with medical imaging devices. In particular, rather than having to call a service center and speak with a technician or engineer, or await the arrival of a field engineer, network technologies have facilitated proactive techniques wherein the service center may contact the medical diagnostic devices directly to check the status of the remote devices.
While such advancements in the provision of remote services to medical diagnostic devices have greatly enhanced the level of service and information exchange, they have not been used to remotely identify and verify a site consisting of a plurality of networked in-field devices to thereby grant access to and permit use of software options resident on the in-field devices incorporated within a particular site.
There is a need for a system where a qualified customer can activate particular options already resident in memory of devices within the customer's system without requiring multiple levels of human interaction to ensure that enabling the particular options is possible and can be implemented on each of the desired devices. That is, a system is needed to allow the customer to activate options of multiple devices within a site without an arduous process of manually evaluating each device in the site.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system to automatically identify each device within a remote site, verify the current status of the devices and, if the current status of the device is such that activation of the particular option is appropriate, automatically activate desired options on each of the devices within the site.